By Staff Sgt. Joe Stone

43rd Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs Office

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on the 43rd Sustainment Brigade’s two-day wellness fair.

More than 200 Soldiers and Family members attended a wellness fair March 7, 2014, at the Iron Horse Sports and Fitness Center and the Special Events Center on Fort Carson.

The event, sponsored by 43rd Sustainment Brigade, allowed the “Rough Rider” Family to gauge its fitness level and work on the physical aspect of the Iron Horse Strong campaign.

“Wellness day was inspired by a conversation with my wife,” said Col. Anthony Whitson, commander 43rd SB. “We started talking about the commanding general’s three pillars, which are physical, mental and spiritual fitness. Today is about the physical pillar.”

The fair started at the Special Events Center with opening remarks by Whitson.

“We deploy, fight and win our nation’s battles,” said Whitson. “You can’t do that if you’re not Rough Rider strong.”

There were three stations, one at the SEC, one on the courts of Iron Horse Sports and Fitness Center and one on the field behind the fitness center.

Charlotte Morehouse, health promotions technician, Army Wellness Center, gave the Rough Riders information about programs and services offered by AWC.

“There are ways to naturally boost your metabolism, like the Meals in Minutes class where we tour the commissary and debunk the myth that eating healthy is always more expensive,” Morehouse said.

The AWC is providing Soldiers and Families ways to be healthier, she said.

“The services are free,” said Morehouse. “They cost anywhere from $1,200-$1,500 off post.”

“It was a very motivational event,” said Werling. “Impressive performances; everybody was motivated and was having a good time.”

The final station was led by 43rd SB’s medic team. Participants carried simulated patients on litters and with alternate carrying techniques.

“By the looks on people’s faces, you could tell they were having a good time,” said Sgt. 1st Class Sean Heath, master resilience trainer, 43rd SB. “Not all Army training does that. Even the medic training — those were actual Soldier tasks and people were having fun.”

This is the first half of the event, Heath said.

“We had 222 people for the first iteration and we are projecting more than 500 for (the second one Friday),” said Heath.

There was tremendous support from all the agencies involved, and it made a difference, Heath said.

“It wouldn’t have been the same if we had been teaching the classes. To have the subject matter experts come out really made a difference in how the Soldiers received the material,” said Heath.Wellness 1